School district coping with fire’s aftermath

CENTRALIA – Even though classes let out in mid-June, summer won’t be much of a break for Centralia School District administrators.

The Centralia School Board took in an update on the aftermath of the May 27 fire at Oakview Elementary School at its monthly meeting. The two main issues presented were the insurance coverage of items inside the 10 classrooms destroyed by the blaze, and the acquisition of portable classrooms to accommodate the displaced teachers and pupils for the 2006-07 school year.

John Bash, Centralia’s director of teaching, learning and special programs, reported that about $107,000 worth of instructional materials belonging to the district had been lost in the fire, and would be covered by insurance.

Another insurance issue relating to items within the classrooms covered the loss of each teacher’s personal classroom inventory. Very little of the material in classrooms during the fire would be salvaged, said Jack Baird, the district’s business manager.

Baird said the district’s insurance will replace up to $5,000 worth of personal classroom materials for each teacher.

Teachers have been asked to send a digital spreadsheet list of items lost to Canfield and Associates, the district’s insurance administrator, and then they’ll be given a check with which to replace their lost items.

The district will house about 250 of the pupils at Oakview next year in seven portable units.